My daughter is named Tali'Zorah. I suppose I'm crazy : )

[Alarien]

Realistically, it's not a great idea. Naming your kid something as blatant as "Tali'Zorah," whether it's an homage or "we just liked the name" will result in excessive teasing and unnecessary drama.

That said, I don't think it is worse, per se, naming your kids after religious figures, movie characters or anything else. How many kids are named Jesus? (Jesus, Joshua, etc) Yes, the name pre-existed the figure, but what leads you to name your kid that?

Still, I do think it's about time our society ended it's love affair with about 20 overly recurring name per gender and stopped with "fad names." I never met a kid named <insert name here, left for various reasons> while I was growing up. My sister names her first kid that, and all the sudden they are coming out of my ears and all over different forms of media.

So... I say be different. At least it'll spark some amusing conversations among adults, and your kid might grow up with tougher skin.

Were you planning on getting her a tattoo somewhere that said "Emergency Induction Port?"

 

[wulf3n]

Wasn't there a ruling in America somewhere that set the precedent of certain[read: weird] child names being tantamount to child abuse? There's always that to think about.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

Well I named my parrot "Tali", it seems like a perfectly normal name. Not sure I'd name a child "Tali'Zorah" though...Seems a little too exotic.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Well, first off the whole apostrophe in a name is one of the worst and laziest naming tropes in RPG and SciFi writing so I would avoid EVER naming my kid with that hanging over their head. Beyond that I'd say that, like many others here, Tali Zorah is just fine. BTW, it may not be absolutely unique but it is a nice sounding name as long as it fits within the whole context of said name. A name should roll off the tongue without hitches or the odd twitch accompanying the "that doesn't fit" thought. So as long as the last name complements the first and middle, its cool. And for those who are making the "omg your kids gonna get teased" warnings, that may happen whatever you choose to name your kid and shouldn't be a huge priority as long as whatever you name the kid isn't way too far out there which Tali is not.
Also when the child gets to an age where you can explain the name origin, it may behoove you to do so and hopefully you're choosing that name because the character means something to you beyond the name "sounding cool". Naming a kid after a cool sounding video game name is akin to getting a tattoo that "looks badass" but has no meaning or has a meaning you're totally unaware of (e.g. a bunch of Chinese symbols you can't read and find out later means the Chinese equivalent of "douchebag").
So in closing, naming a child is a special thing and the name SHOULD have meaning to you and not just a "oh thats badass" thought. That shows just how little thought you actually put into this. Not saying you haven't, but those are my warnings, other than that congrats and good luck. But yeah definitely drop the apostrophe because its just stupid and useless... Hell as a DM/GM/Storyteller in any table-top RPG I will flat out refuse any characters with an apostrophe name unless they're Drow and only if it fits those naming conventions.

 

[Coakle]

What are the 2nd and 3rd options?

If you like how the name sounds, maybe name her talia and call her Tali as a nickname. That way your daughter has some more control over how her name is pronounced when she introduces herself or has a new class.

If you want her to have a unique name to encourage character growth, then Tali'Zorah is a good choice. Maybe it will help her deal with petty people in the long run. It could also make her more outgoing, since it takes a lot more guts to say your name is Tali'Zorah than Sarah. Maybe it won't change anything, who knows?


A lot people will know where the name comes from. Mass Effect has been going on for over 6 years, it would be like if you named your kid Kilgore or Vader back when Apocalypse Now or Star Wars came out. Mass effect won't leave the collective consciousness for a long while. This means people will know Tali'Zorah as a first name doesn't make sense.



Edit: Kilgore is a bad example, also I call dibs on that name.





Edit: Edit: There is nothing wrong with getting inspiration from a videogame while name searching. I prefer more subtle names.

I think Ivy, Rayne or Chell work well for girls. BloodRayne would be a really bad name, since it's not actually the character's first name and it's shallow.


I think the general rule for video game names is that

 

[major_chaos]

I'm only 19 so I don't really feel qualified to give parenting recommendations, but I do think I can comment on one specific part of your post:

I'm assuming she'll like it,

Unfortunately you really cant be sure because in my experience people are inclined to hate their own name even if no one else does. For example my middle name is Alexander and for my whole life I have fucking hated that name, and I really don't even know why seeing as I have never been mocked for it and most of my friends think its a really cool name. And I'm apparent not unique in this, seeing as a number of people I have know had similar unfounded hatred of their own first or middle name.

and I don't think she'll get teased for it or anything like that.

In my experience you are flat wrong here, she will get teased for it. That said, you could give your child the most boring, generic, common name ever conceived and they would still get mocked for it growing up. Children are just kinda evil that way. The most important part isn't stressing yourself to come up with a teasing proof name (because there isn't one,) its that you impress upon the child that the people mocking them are A. wrong and B. pathetic losers who need to hurt others to cover for their own failings.

 

[Korolev]

I can't stop you, but please don't do this. This is a name that she will have to bear for many years. It might sound cool to you, it might make YOU happy, but you don't have to live with this name and you don't have to go to school with it. My parents wanted to call me something relatively ridiculous - they were nature lovers and wanted to name me after a particular tropical bird. They were about to do it, until my very wise Grandmother intervened and insisted that I be given a normal name. I will ALWAYS thank my grandmother for that. My parents instead used the bird name for my second name, and that's fine - and they still call me by it. By I am very glad that I had a normal first name.

Look.... don't do this. You might love the idea now, but think about the potential consequences 5 or 7 or 8 or 10 years down the track for your daughter.

As others have said, Tali by itself sounds okay, I guess. Sounds enough like Talia, a name I've heard more than a few times.

For the love of whatever deity is out there, think about more than "I like this name!" before giving it to your child. Think about the child and their future as well.

 

[kickyourass]

Tali is a semi-common Hebrew name, I've met girls named Tali before and after Mass Effect came around (it's a grand total of 2 but still) so there's no problem with Tali. And with some of the blatantly awful middle names I've heard people give their kids I can't really object to 'Zorah' aside from that fact that it will leave 0 doubt to the fact that she's named for a video game character.
People familiar with the games might give you a second glance, and children can be absolutely horrible little shits so some of her classmates will tease her over her name (It might not even be about the Mass Effect part, kids are just assholes like that). But that part's nothing new, try going through school being called Bill right as the "Kill Bill" movies got really popular, and Bill is one of the plainest, most inoffensive names I can think of!

But as long as you are aware of the possible issues, and take steps like keeping Zorah (If you absolutely must keep that part) as her middle name as well as working to actually resolve the issue when she comes to you about being teased. Also you had better make peace with the fact that she WILL get teased no matter what you name her, 100% of names can be corrupted or mocked in some way. If you keep that sort of thing in mind I don't foresee any insurmountable problems with giving this name to your daughter. I mean, it wouldn't be THAT much different from naming her Zelda, another real name that's been used in an extremely popular video game.

 

[NortherWolf]

Crazy? Probably not. Self-centered, egoistical and odd, maybe.
1: As many others have said, it's a kid, not a fucking pet or product placement for your favorite brand of the moment.
2: It's your kid that will have to live with that, not you. Give that more consideration.
3: Enjoy the fact you will be joining the hordes of pathetic fangirls who named their kid Khaleesi, or after that freak child in Twilight. Cracked has an article about people like that, go look it up.
4: Also, like others have said, Tali=Fine, Tali'Zhorah not.

 

[thiosk]

Are you naming her Tali'Zora or Tali?

Tali = Good (well, acceptable) idea
Tali'Zora = Terrible idea

Cannot be quoted enough.

Tali is a good name.

I'm not one to talk, though, I want to have a boy just to name him Lelouch vi Britannia.

 

[Headbiter]

Naming a child after (or, to put it more general: like) a fictional character is a) not really crazy per se (!) and b) even not that easy to avoid anymore. Hell, when I was at the Gymnasium (German type of school) there was a girl named "Lara". Not named after Ms. Croft but back then Croft was more of a deal in terms of significance in video gaming, so my class mate got teased a bit anyway (mostly in a joking way by the gamers of the class. Gaming wasn't as socially acceptable as it is today).

Zorah, as mentioned several times before, I'd avoid. It's all nice and gimmicky if your name reminds people with the necessary knowledge (!) of a game - as would be the case with Tali - but if your name leaves absolutely ZERO doubt that you're named after a video game character, this WILL lead to awkward situations.

Plus, assuming you live in an English-speaking country, Zorah also attracts hell of a lot of attention TO her name, since it's phonetically unusual in this language. It's the same reason why you don't name a child in, let's say France "Kuromitsu". It's so foreign to the local tongue, it immediately draws confusion upon the bearer.

Not necessarily a nice "first gift".

 

[immortalfrieza]

It doesn't matter if you decide to go with Tali or Tali'Zorah or whatever, whatever you name your child your number 1 thing to take into consideration is whether the name will draw ridicule or not. What you decide to name your kid will be the first thing that people are going to mock them about, so you better choose something that probably won't cause that. Naming your kid after a video game character is pretty high on the list of names that will get them bullied mercilessly, even if nobody is going to really know about Mass Effect in a few years (for the record I find it pretty likely the series will still be around in some form or another for at least another decade) naming your kid after any character in the game is probably a bad idea.

Just know that if you do and she becomes a school shooter/becomes depressed/kills herself later, there's a decent enough chance that the name you gave her had something to do with it, so choose carefully.

 

[DeaDRabbiT]

Sorry if this somehow belongs in gaming discussion.

Anyway, tomorrow my daughter is scheduled to be born. I'm freaking out and all that, but that's not why I'm here. Since day 1, her first name was always going to be Tali'Zorah. It's not necessarily "named after Mass Effect", but rather my wife fell in love with the name during our first playthrough of ME1 many years ago. Confused friends and relatives are told "we wanted a nice Quarian name" just because it's funny to see the confusion become worse.

All that aside, a couple of people have told me that we're nuts for giving a child that name. I like it a lot, I'm assuming she'll like it, and I don't think she'll get teased for it or anything like that. Out of curiosity, am I totally off base about that? For further discussion value, this thread can be about the entire concept of video games being used to inspire names.

I would imagine if naming your child after a video game character was going to reflect poorly on anyone, it would be you and your wife. You also have to understand that one day (most likely the teenage years) your daughter is going to ask you how you came up with her name, and you are going to have to tell her "Daughter dearest, we love you, and we named you after a space alien in a videogame we liked"

Now if you do your job right and raise her to be just as unabashedly nerdy and you two, then this revelation will most likely be met with glee, but I imagine as most children that genetically dislike their forebears during those formative teenage years, she is more likely to meet that revelation with the silent treatment for an undetermined amount of time.

Do yourself a favor, stick to Tali for short, and just say you liked the sound of it. or better yet pick a name that jives with the social construct (say after an iconic individual of renown from your homeland) and give her a chance to feel included instead of the kid, with weird parents.

 

[Camaranth]

Like others have said Tali'Zorah in full might be a bit much. But there is no problem with using the name as inspiration for something a little more...mainstream.

Also when you say Zora my mind goes to the water guys from the legend of zelda series

I know two people called Tahlia and I believe it's becoming more common.

I went through uni with a woman named Arwen. As in Lord of the Rings. When I asked about it she rolled her eyes and said "Yes after Lord of the Rings. My parents are huge fans of the book" My reaction was to say oh neat and never mention it again but I'm sure not many people are as kind.

One thing to I have to ask, when you're mad or telling her off is Tali'Zorah Susan Smith really going to be satisfactory to say?

I'm in my twenties and I still flinch when my mother says my full name.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Wasn't there a ruling in America somewhere that set the precedent of certain[read: weird] child names being tantamount to child abuse? There's always that to think about.

Yeah, if you name your kids "Adolf Hitler" and "Aryan Supremacy", dress up as an SS officer and cover your house with swastikas. Otherwise, not so much.

OTOH, in New Zealand, a kid went to court to get her named changed, IIRC, because it was "Talula does the hula from Hawaii".

 

[DeaDRabbiT]

My name is awesome, so I always pop my collar every time I hear all of it.

It's like being announced for a major award.

 

[Mikeyfell]

Ehh, no you're not crazy.

my friends have a daughter named Rainbow Dash.

Tali is a great name.
Her full name isn't Tali'Zorah Nar Earth Vas (Your last name) because that would be pushing it

 

[Callate]

If I were going to go that route, I'd go with 'Zorah or Zorah as a middle name. Tali doesn't sound that odd, and her middle name is rarely going to come up. Heck, Zorah alone doesn't sound that odd either.

But I'd call her Tali. Trust me: you want to name or nickname your child something that you can shout before they run into traffic.

It's far from the worst name I've heard. Heck, it's kind of pretty. I once went to a childbirth class in which one of the other couples announced in the round-robin that they were naming their child Keanu; I swear you could hear the repressed snorts around the room. (This was not in Hawaii, nor a couple of any sort of apparent Polynesian heritage, to be clear.)